


My Arms Hurt.

by Dumbassv2



Series: Epithet Erased One-Shots [2]
Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: "oh . oh no, Angst, Arguing, Board Games, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Self-Harm, anmgst", but like, gio is my new angst boye, honestly this is border-line a shitpost because i'm ever-so-slightly projecting, it's pretty calm actually but like. the angst is kinda like, just the tiniest tiny bit, not actually projecting, present self-harm, surprisingly not super filled with angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24224464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dumbassv2/pseuds/Dumbassv2
Summary: Giovanni hasn't been feeling well today. Or, uh, much of anything today.
Relationships: Sylvester "Sylvie" Ashling & Giovanni Potage
Series: Epithet Erased One-Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747144
Comments: 12
Kudos: 56





	My Arms Hurt.

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Nightmare](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22822735) by [starBright0270 (Cyber_God)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyber_God/pseuds/starBright0270). 



> REMEMBER: check the tags for any potential trigger warnings!  
> ALSO I FORGOT TO HECKIN' . CREDIT THE INSPIRATION THAT I TOOK FROM STARBRIGHT SO NOW IT'S THERE, SUPER SORRY FOR FORGETTING THAT AAA

Giovanni hasn't been having the best of days today. Nothing specifically bad happened, only minor things. Stubbed his toe, clapped too hard, a joke hit too hard, you get the gist of what I'm saying here. The thing is, usually, these things would add up and he'd feel kind of bad at the end of the day. He'd groan into a pillow and fall asleep slowly. He'd have a nightmare due to his bad mood, and the next day he'd be fine. Though, no, that's not what is happening here. Throughout the whole day he's been feeling numb. His chest feels warm but not in the fun way. He can barely feel happy or sad- and he the only thing he can really pay attention to is pain. Everything else feels so dull, so empty, so useless.

Giovanni isn't always like this! I mean, there's always this little voice in his head, that suppressed voice just not caring. That suppressed voice just not reacting like the other thoughts in his head. Today, that voice was louder. It was hard to ignore today. Everything felt off today. He didn't _show_ it, but he felt it. If he showed how he was feeling (or lack of feeling), then someone would be worried. Molly, Car Crash, Crusher, Ben- pretty much all of his minions could point it out. It's not like he didn't want to talk about it specifically, but he just couldn't think of why he felt like this. Honestly, it's not that hard to act like his normal self. He just needs to think of somewhat-witty lines and say them in an upbeat tone.

Come to think of it, what does he want? He doesn't want to eat, or sleep, or talk to anyone. He just wants to feel something. He's been talking to people all day and yet, he's not felt much. It's not like he didn't feel- he did! The warm feeling in his chest never left, though. It doesn't hurt. It just feels wrong.

Maybe that's enough thinking about it for now. If he's just going to (mentally) _complain_ , then he should try doing something about this. He just. Needs to figure out how to do that. Okay, think, Giovanni. What made you feel today?

Alright, let's see... He puts a hand to his chin, what stood out to him most today? Well, he bumped his head on a low ceiling. He also got shot by a few pea shooters by accident. Then later he got burnt by the oven. Hm. Alright, so, pain makes him feel things! That sounds like a good hint to what he should do. I mean, it's not like he's not done this before. He even has his own Super Cool Blade for days like these. _(It's a sharpener blade)_ He just needs to leave his bed first. It's so _comfy_ though! I'll tell you what, he'll leave the bed once he feels the slightest bit uncomfortable. That seems like a good idea. Now he just has to wait.

Aaand there it is, that didn't take long at all! The slightly less soft part of his pillow really comes to play sometimes. Now being one of the times. He gets up and opens his closet doors. It's somewhere in here... Ah! Right! The shoe box. Don't worry, it's very sanitary, he cleaned it before putting blades in it beforehand! A true mastermind- preparing ahead of time! No one wants tetanus, especially not Giovanni.

He opens up the box and picks up the blade. The warm feeling in his chest rises. He doesn't know if he wants to do this- but it's not like he _doesn't_ want to do this. He just doesn't know where to cut, right? That's it. That's the only problem. Yeup!

He slices on his arm- he slices at least six times on the same spot. He should keep doing it- but he pauses. And now blood's forming. Now he can't pinpoint where the cut itself was, "Fuck." He mumbles under his breathe. Well, the stinging is pretty fun. You know, the difference between stubbing your toe and cutting your arms is that you're _expecting_ to cut your arm, but the pain from stubbing your toe is unexpected! See? He is a completely reasonable evil-doer, yes he is. He cuts once more on his arm, slicing again and again on the same spot, this time slicing at least _seven_ times! What an upgrade!

He makes another cut into his arm, slicing five times. And another cut. Another. More- More! This is just _so fun,_ you know? It feels amazing, he should do this more often! He giggles a bit, this is just too good. He slices at his arm over and over and the best part is that it never gets old! He should've done this earlier, it's so useful! Just slice, slice, slice, and forget about everything else! This is amazing!

 _He could hear a knock from the apartment from_ door.

"Wha- WHO IS IT?" He extends his words in a.. kind of annoying manner. He looks down at his arm again and- oh. Oh no. He'll need to get something to make himself stop bleeding- there should be bandages under the bathroom sink. He heads there, still listening for the voice of the stranger at the door, "Sylvester! Molly wanted us to 'hang out'? Something about how we argue too much." You could practically hear his finger quotation marks. "O-oh. Well- is there any chance that you could like??? Go away??"

"No." Sylvie states blankly. "Ah-" He stretches his words really slowly, making his way to the bathroom, "-Wellll, wait a bit. I need to do! Something!!" He couldn't even think of an excuse- he just needs to hurry. "Uh...? O-kay?? Just- hurry up, or Molly's going to try to find _my_ address." Thanks, Sylvie, way to pressure Giovanni! He heads into the bathroom and opens up the cabinet under the sink. He pushes the cleaning supplies aside and wraps a bandage around his right arm. Okay- there should be a coat at the main room that he can wear to cover up the bloody bandages on his arm. His arms still sting- so that's fun I guess.

He rushes over to the door and opens up the shoe closet, "Hello?? I can hear you sliding whatever that is-- Can you let me in and _then_ do whatever you're doing?" Sylvie seems pretty annoyed. "Nope!" He chirps, pulling out his favourite jacket. He slides it on and opens the door, "Hey, kid! What brings _you_ here?" He crosses his arms- though he doesn't seem mad. More like he's trying to joke around. "Well, I thought I told you this already, but you I guess you weren't listening." Giovanni's smile fades slightly, but it comes back almost instantly. "I'm here because Molly wanted us to talk more often. Something about how we argue every five seconds?"

"Well! No clue what that's about, but come on right in!" The two go into silence while Sylvie takes his shoes off. Giovanni mumbles, "This'll be the only time, right?" Sylvie shrugs, "No idea. Any idea of what to do?" He glances around the room. "Uh- Do you want some soup?" Sylvie nods, following Giovanni into the kitchen. "..Is that blood?" The ~~boy~~ esteemed psychologist looks at some red stains on the carpet- a trail of stains, actually. It smells like blood, I wonder why. "Nope!" Giovanni states matter-of-'fact'ly, and continued to walk along to the kitchen. Sylvie mutters an 'o-kay then' under his breathe.

Once the two reach the kitchen, Giovanni summons an Ancient Soup for Sylvie, "Here ya' go, kid." He hands it over and ruffles Sylvie's hair, "Wha- Why did we go to the kitchen if you could've just summoned the soup?? That makes no sense! And I'm _not a kid-_ " Giovanni places a finger in front of Sylvie's mouth, "Shhh, shh. Now you get to see the kitchen of the _Evil Mastermind_ Himself, Giovanni Potage!" He points his thumb to his chest in triumph. "I could've just _asked_ if I wanted to see it." Sylvie says before trying to open the container. "Uh... Does this come with a spoon? Or a. Can... opener?" Giovanni shakes his head and chuckles, "Ohoho, you innocent child, try drinking it straight from the container! Like a Man!!" Did he just capitalize Man?

Sylvie eyes the container... Giovanni sighs, "Okay, fine, I'll get you a bowl. Or, something." Giovanni searches through the cupboards- where do they keep the bowls again? Uh. Oh! Hey- a spoon! He picks that up and continues searching for a bowl. Sylvie watches awkwardly. Does Giovanni even?? Eat?? From?? Bowls? Often? Or plates- the two usually go hand-in-hand when it comes to placement. Oh-- Aha! A bowl! He places the bowl and spoon on the counter, "Here, I'll open that for you." Sylvie hands him the Ancient Soup container and watched the Incredibly Cool Man pour the soup into the bowl, "Voila!"

"Uh. Thanks?" Sylvie's still a bit confused as to why it took so long to fetch him a bowl. Sylvie takes a sip of the soup _(with his spoon, like a casual)_ "So. How... are you??" Giovanni asks, unsure what else to ask. Sylvie shrugs again, "I don't know. Kind of unsettled, actually. Kind of because I saw a literal trail of blood in your apartment? Doesn't give the safest impression out there, you know." He takes another sip of soup. "I _told you_ that it wasn't blood." Giovanni seems a bit irritated now. "Really? Then what was it then? Soup? Ketchup? Because that smelt like _fresh blood_ to me." Despite the argument coming soon, Sylvie still continues to drink his soup.

"Maybe it was just a bad soup, you don't know that! Only _I_ do. And possibly my Mom." Sylvie scoffs, "Yeah, right. Now that I think about it- it even smells like blood _in here!_ Next thing I know, the soup is poisoned! ~~_Don't tell me the soup is actually poisoned-_~~ " Giovanni gasps, "I would never! Soups are a _delicacy_ that no one should use to trick people into dying!! Or worse!" Worse? "Oh, shut up! I majored in psychology, I can tell you're lying. Though- I probably wouldn't even need this degree to be able to tell you're tricking me! Why was there a blood trail on the floor, hm?"

"That's private! The likes of you don't need to know about anything relating to that suspicious trail of blood!" Sylvie stops drinking the soup _(uh oh!)_ "The likes of me?? What do you mean _the likes of me???_ Did you **kill someone?!** " Wh- wait what? "Huh?" Giovanni looks genuinely confused. "Oh- don't act stupid! You know what you did! Who did you kill? Did they escape? Do I know them!?" Giovanni raises his arms defensively- luckily his sleeves are still long enough to wrinkle at his wrists instead of anywhere lower, "Calm down! What are you? A detective or something? I didn't kill anybody!"

"Sure you didn't- aren't you the one who's trying to commit crimes left-right-and-center for 'street cred'?" Jesus christ- "Dude! Killing is _way_ out of my range! Plus, I don't commit crimes that are morally wrong. That's just weird! I'm supposed to set a good example to my minions, you know."

 _"Then who's blood was it? Yours?_ Because I really doubt that."

Giovanni pauses. For a second, his exaggerated expression disappears and is replaced with a slightly worried face. That quickly changes to a joking face, but Sylvie still noticed it, "Psshhhhpshbhsbh, of course not! You know what I say! I like to keep my blood! Inside my body!" Sylvie looks less accusatory now and moreso concerned. "...I have never heard you say that in my lifetime." Giovanni shrugs, "Well! Now you have! And, uh, are you going to finish your soup?" Sylvie eventually nods and continues to have his soup silently. He's currently trying to figure out what just happened. With a response like that- that had to be Giovanni's blood... but that. Makes no sense. Why would there be a fresh trail of blood there? He looks fine right though, right?

While finishing his soup, he analyzed Giovanni. Giovanni seemed to notice, his eyes darting around the room, "What?" Sylvie takes the last sip of his soup, "Look- now it's obvious that was your blood and all- but it just! Doesn't make sense! What happened??" Giovanni seems annoyed, "I _told you,_ that's none of your business." Now, Sylvie wouldn't admit it, but he's kind of worried now. "I guess it isn't- but now you're sounding really sketchy. And not in the crime way either."

"That- doesn't matter. Anyways! What else would you like to do? Or are you leaving now?" Usually, Sylvie would take this chance to leave as soon as possible, but now he's ~~concerned~~ curious. "I think I'll stay for longer than three minutes, thanks." Giovanni huffs, "Amazing. What else would you like to do, anyways?" Sylvie pauses... what do people usually do during hangouts? "Uh? We could hang out in your room? ~~Do people do that?~~ " Giovanni nods, "That sounds good, put your bowl in the sink- don't forget to rinse it through water please- okay, follow me! I have the _coolest_ room you will ever see."

Sylvie follows Giovanni out of the kitchen, the blood trail becoming prevalent again. Sylvie gets more and more uncomfortable, the two seem to be following the blood trail. He holds his arms to his chest- the blood trail isn't like a _huge_ one. It's like drops of blood but they're close enough that you're able to tell that it's going in a certain direction.

The two stop at the door to Giovanni's room. Giovanni seems a bit startled- like he just remembered something..? "Uh- actually, wait out here for a second! This'll only take a second, I promise-" Before Sylvie responds, Giovanni slips inside the room and closes the door. That's.. weird. The sound of a clink can be heard shortly before the sound of wood sliding. Giovanni slips out, "Can I come in yet?" He shakes his head, "Just a second! I gotta do something!" Giovanni rushes to the bathroom- which was also where the blood trail leaded to. He comes back with a cloth and some cleaning spray and rushes into the room. "Are you almost done yet? Next thing I know you'll be carrying a dead body out of there."

"I'm almost done, sheesh!" Sylvie mumbles under his breathe practically a keyboard-smash. After a bit of time, Giovanni opens up the door, a red-stained cloth in his hand, "Welcome to the room of the one and only, Giovanni Potage!" He reaches his arm out, as to show off his room. The room is a lot more different than Sylvie thought it would be. I mean- a race car bed? Isn't Giovanni like.. 19? 20? The room has a few baseball trophies and a baseball poster, I guess that's where he got the idea for his 'Soul Slugger Doom Bat'. There's also a poster with a mask on it, presumably from one of the horror movies Sylvie tends to stay away from.

"Well this is. A lot more innocent than I thought it would be. What were you even doing, anyway?" Giovanni subconsciously fiddles with the bloody cloth, "Cleaning- and this _isn't_ innocent! It's _evil_ and _radical!"_ He extends the e in evil and rolls his Rs. "Uhuh. What's that on your cloth?" Giovanni coughs, "Nothing! Just some very suspicious red liquid- koolaid! Cherry koolaid!" He quickly moves the arm with the cloth in it to his back. "Doesn't smell the part. You sure it wasn't related to that blood trail?"

"Shnck- What _are_ you, my therapist?? 'Cause I don't have any of those, but either way, that's none of your business, thank you very much." Sylvie scans the room again, "Hmm, fine, I'll let it go. For now." There really isn't much else he can do here, anyways. Giovanni perks up, "Great! So! What do you wanna do?" Sylvie shrugs, "I didn't think this far?? I mean, I'll be here until I figure out what that blood was about. ~~Or I won't be able to sleep for another three days.~~ " He mumbles that last sentence, Giovanni didn't pay any attention to it. "Awh, too bad, I guess you live here now. You'll have to talk to my Mom about that though..." Giovanni places his hand under his chin thoughtfully. "I am _not_ living here. I'd rather not go missing in two weeks time, thanks."

"Then maybe you can leave! Like! Right now?" Sylvie shakes his head, "I told you, I'm not leaving yet." Giovanni groans, "Augh, fine then! I guess we'll have to do something until you give up on your little 'quest' here." Sylvie is still looking around the room- he isn't walking anywhere though, he's just trying to see what he can from where he is. The closet ~~and the horror movie poster~~ stood out, it's just ever-so-slightly off-putting. "Do you have any.. uh.. board games?" Sylvie doesn't really have any other ideas.

"Oh! Yeah, I got Monopoly.. some trivia game? I think there's Sorry somewhere in there, but there aren't many pieces left of that..." Giovanni heads over to his closet, "Wait- Trivia? What's it about?" Giovanni shrugs, "'Dunno, I don't play it much. There are like- four categories? Maybe? Do you wanna play that?" He's rummaging through his closet- it's surprisingly tidy. "Mhm! I think I'd win pretty easily, but I guess I can go easy for you." Sylvie smirks, eyeing the closet. Giovanni huffs, "As if! I bet I can beat you even if you try your hardest-- plus, the game's for babies anyways! Though, that could work. You're kind of like one, actually."

"HUH?? What does _that_ mean? I'll have you know-" Giovanni interrupts Sylvie's rant before it starts, "You're small and you're young." Sylvie groans, "Oh, shut up! I'm both smarter _and_ stronger than you!" Giovanni smirks, "Oh yeah? If I remember correctly, you lost to _me_ _(and BearTrap)_ at the museum, you know that, right?" Sylvie groans more, "That's only because Molly was there! She's the only one with a braincell in your group!"

"Hey! Do _not_ undermine my other minions like that! It just so happens that BearTrap is better at thinking beforehand than most! Which is great, but that doesn't mean my other minions are dumb!" Aaaand now Giovanni actually is kind of upset. He cares about his minions, like all captains should, and he will not tolerate anyone trashtalking them. "Well, she's smarter than you. And that says a lot, because she's _12._ "

"Oh, now you're trashing BearTrap too? Come on! All my minions are completely competent and amazing, no matter how old or 'smart' they are." Sylvie chuckles, "I'm not 'trashing' _Molly,_ I'm trashing you. There's a big difference there." Maybe Sylvie's going a bit too far there. That kind of hurt- wait, that kind of hurt! Maybe the numb is ending? Hopefully? "Fine!" Giovanni's voice cracks a bit, "You can just _leave_ if you think I'm so dumb. Of course you must be too smart to talk to idiotic fools like me, huh?" He says mockingly- maybe this is going too far. But hey! Sylvie might leave, right?

"I-" Sylvie pauses, "Oh... Oh! You almost got me there, but I'm not leaving yet! I told you- I'm staying until I figure out what that blood was from." Awh, darn. It almost worked. At least the two are a bit more calm now. "Tch, fine. Be like that, I guess. You said you wanted the trivia game, right?" Sylvie nods. "Perfect, I can't wait to beat you, nerd." Sylvie smiles, "And I can't wait to see you _try_."

Giovanni pulls out the boardgame, it's called Eye Know- with an eye as the logo. How funny. "Let us battle!! Without the causing physical pain part!" Giovanni slides open the box to reveal casino-coin looking things along with four stacks of cards. Underneath, there's a folded board. He picked up the carrier of coins and cards while Sylvie unfolded the board. Giovanni only picks out the cards, not paying any attention to the casino-looking-coins. "Uh- aren't those supposed to like? Keep track of points?" Giovanni shrugged, "Who needs _coins_ when you can just keep a tally in your head? Much better that way."

"Much less _reliable_ that way, actually. Nice try, but we're using the coins." Giovanni seems less annoyed but moreso uncomfortable, "Fine, fine." Giovanni places the cards in the spots correlating to their colour, each side being a different colour. "Hmm.. You go first." Giovanni nods, "M'kay, hmm.. I'll choose green one!! That's a seashell, right?" Sylvie ~~giggles~~ chuckles, "That's a. clam."

"Oh. Well- Hey, stop laughing! I don't go to a lot of beaches, okay???" Sylvie keeps laughing- "Pff- You don't know what a _clam_ is?? I haven't been to a beach once in my life and I still know what clams look like!" Sylvie wipes a tear from his eyes. "Shush!! Shut your mouth!! Just- Just read a question from the card!!" Giovanna buries his face in his hands, grumbling. "O- heh- Okay, okay, let's see.. true or false! Most clams live up to 10 years!" Giovanni puts his hand to his chin, "Hmm... Well! The answer here is obvious, these puny creatures couldn't last five years! False!"

"Wrong! Most clams live from three to ten years! Some species even living up to 410 years! Hah!" Giovanni groans, "Nnnghhh- Shush! Shush your mouth! How was I even supposed to know that?! Whatever- just pick your card!" Giovanni's body language shows that he isn't _actually_ angry, this is mostly all in good fun! "Alright- Yellow! The- the.. wait... what even is that? Can I change my choi-"

"Nope! Alright, so, this is apparently about Volk...s..wagon? Volkswagon! Yeah, I am so smart." Giovanni says this proudly, as if he just accomplished.. something? "Oh, this'll be easy! Give me an open ended question." Giovanni scans the card, "Hmmm.. okay, let's see... Volkswagon means what in German?" Sylvie pauses for a second... "Oh! That's easy, it's people's car!" Giovanni pauses. "...HOW?!" Sylvie picks out three of the casino-coins and laughs, "That's just what happens when you make yourself learn random languages for fun! Sadly, I grew out of that phase about a year ago..." Giovanni takes a deep breathe, "Once again, hOW???" Sylvie shrugs, "Sheer will power and the ability to not have any friends whatsoever."

"Huh. Well. That's sad." Sylvie nods, "Well! It's your turn. Go ahead, bloodboy." Giovanni scoffs, "I am a blood MAN, thank you. And I'll choose... the yellow card. That _is_ Disney, right?? My eyes aren't deceiving me, right??" Sylvie gasps, "Nooope! This is actually another very famous company logo... Dilly! Tsk tsk, you uncultured swine." Giovanni places his hands on his hips, "Oh yeah? What's the company about?" Sylvie thinks for a moment, "Toys! Toys and plushies. They practically rule the toy industry." Giovanni hums, "Tell me five nerd facts about Dilly, then." Sylvie's face looks blank for a second, "Aauuhh.. It's one of the main factors of over-sheep shearing!! And- and, a lot of people confuse Dilly with a different type of toy company-" Giovanni raises an eyebrow, "-they mistake them for a doll company! Though, fun fact, they've only ever sold robotic toys and animal plushies! Fourth fact is... that.. uh..."

Giovanni holds up his phone, "Dilly isn't a toy company, just searched it up. Though, you could've fooled me there! Good job, kid!" He ruffles Sylvie's hair once more, causing Sylvie to wave around his arms near Giovanni's arms, "Hey!! Watch the hair- and I'm not a kid! I'm a teenager!"

"Snrck- _barely_ a teen. Anyways, gimme a multiple choice one." Sylvie takes a second to read, "Okay, what is the first name of the main rodent character that Disney is mostly recognized for? Miles, Mickey, or-" Giovanni answers quickly, "Mickey! Mickey Mouse. See! I am extremely smart." He picks out two red casino-coins. "Psssh, that card was a freebie, anyone could get that!"

"You're just saying that 'cause you're jealous!~" Sylvie blows a raspberry, "Am not! I have more points than you!" Giovanni pauses, "Shhh... Sh. Tell me what card you want." Sylvie huffs, "..Blue." Giovanni nods and picks out the blue card. The picture on the front is a person.. but who? Giovanni reads out the title, "The guy's called Barin Hanson.. That's a nice name, actually. Barin Hanson! Sounds like paper!" Sylvie turns his head sideways, "Barin Hanson? Uh.. Give me a true or false one." Giovanni nods, "Alright! I guess you don't know much about this guy, huh? Can't blame you, actually... Anyways! Barin won _nineteen-_ jesus- uh, nineteen international wheelchair marathons." Sylvie's eyes kind of widen- nineteen is so specific! Too specific, right? "Uh.. False! I bet he won, like, 23 or something."

"HAH! It was true! I guess that means you aren't getting a point, hm?" Sylvie groans, "Oh, shut up! I doubt you'll even get the next card right!" Giovanni points at the red card deck, "Oh really??? Well, let's see whatever this is then!" Sylvie picks up the red card at the top, "It's. It's Michael D'Angelo." Giovanni is silent. "Ooooh... the sculptor dude?" Sylvie suppresses a laugh- "Ye-eah, the. The sculptor dude."

"What?? What's so funny??" Sylvie snorts as a result from holding back his laughs, "I just. No one I know even referred- snrt- referred to him as. As the. Sculptor dude." Giovanni smiles a bit- the giggles are contagious! Oh no! "I don't know about people!! Especially dead people! Just- give me a true or false one!" Sylvie adjusts his glasses, seemingly calming down with the laughs, "Okay, okay, is it true that he was also a poet?" Giovanni answers quickly, "False! Of course not, he's like.. a sculptor dude, right?? Can people even do both?"

"Are you... serious? Oh my God- this is priceless-" Sylvie is no longer trying to suppress his laugh. "Wh- N- was I _wrong???_ " Sylvie just kept laughing- "'Can people even do both?'" He says, in a mocking tone, "Of course they can, oh my God!! And yes, yes, you were wrong." Giovanni groans, and-- woah, woah, that was, uh, weird. Everything just went a bit blurry for a second. Giovanni shakes his head and continues talking, "Augh, whatever! Let's- how about we play something else???"

"Pff, baby rage." Giovanni waves his arms around, "I'm like four years older than you!" Sylvie shrugs, "Doesn't matter. Baby rage." Giovanni thinks for a moment... "Does that mean you're a fetus??"

.

.

.

"Huh-" "No, think about it!! Toddlers are like... five or something? Four? And if _I'm_ a baby, and you're four years younger than me, you've gotta be like. A fetus... right???? Are you a fetus boy?" Sylvie shivers, "Don't ever say that sentence ever again. I beg of you." Giovanni smirks, "Then beg, fetus boy." Sylvie grumbles, "Never!! I am _no such thing_ , blood man!" Giovanni seems a bit startled- but in the good way, you know? "Awh! I'm so glad you remembered that I am a blood _man!"_ He wipes a non-existent tear from his eye. "Yeah! Which means you should stop calling me fetus boy--" Giovanni sighs dramatically, "Fiiiine... I'll just call you boy then."

"Do NOT-" Giovanni interrupts before Sylvie continues, "Boy! What do you wanna play now? 'Cause we are not playing Eye Know anymore--" Sylvie smirks, "Okay then, Blood Man, how about we play... Truth or Dare?" That could be a good way of figuring out what the blood was. Giovanni does seem like one who backs out from truths and dares, at least I think he doesn't do that... Right?? Giovanni nods, "Great idea, Boy! You ask me first, I don't know what I'd ask you yet."

"Alright, Truth or Dare?" Giovanni thinks for a moment... "Dare! I've gone through so many dares in my lifetime!! I've even _loitered_ and _shoplifted!!"_ Sylvie adjusts his glasses again- these things are really just trying to escape him today, huh? "Alright! I dare you to reveal the blood secret!" Giovanni groans, "Come on! That's just a truth disguised as a dare! Give me a real dare!" Sylvie sighs, "Awh. Alright, hmm... I dare you... to... uh??? Take off your jacket, I guess? I can't think of much." Ah. Oh no. "You sure you don't wanna dare me to do?? Literally anything else???"

"What? This is such a tame dare- you should be happy!" Giovanni moves his hands along with his words, really exaggerating his words here, "Dares are supposed to be _exciting!_ This is just boring, Boy." Sylvie crosses his arms, "Well, if you really don't want to do this dare... Then I guess I'll stick with it. Suffer." Giovanni grumbles, "Alright, I guess I'm. Gonna take off my jacket then. Yup."

Giovanni slips off half of his jacket, which isn't that hard because he didn't zip it up earlier. He quickly slides off his left arm's shoulder and holds it to his chest. The (very loosely put on) bandage can be seen- though the bloody part is pressed against his jacket and chest. Though- his movements were a bit delayed. His head feels a bit.. dizzy. "Is- is your arm okay??" Giovanni nods, "My arm is _completely_ fine, don't worry, Boy." He's trying to keep up with a joking manner- but he can't think very straight right now. You're fine, Giovanni, you're _fine._

"Are you? Sure?? That bandage doesn't seem so secure, you know." Giovanni blows a raspberry, "Pbbthbh- I'm fine! Never better." Sylvie ~~stares at~~ inspects Giovanni's arm from the few-feet distance, "I don't know about that. Can I see your arm?" Giovanni holds his arm tighter to his chest, "Haha! No." And _now_ Sylvie's not going to let this go. "Come on! I can properly patch it up- it seems bad if you needed a bandage for it. It's too loose to even work properly anyways!" Oh- Speaking of which! Where are the bandages in your apartment?? It's better to just retry wrapping it with another bandage instead of--"

"--I am not gonna show you my arm- Just! Augh. Truth or dare." Sylvie gives Giovanni a fed up look, "Come on, you know I'm not leaving until I get to know what's up here. I am a licensed psychotherapist, I picked up first aid as a learning goal, I know what I'm doing. Now show me your arm." Giovanni shakes his head- woah, that felt weird- uh, anyways, "I- woah- _ahem,_ I don't need your help dude! Me and my arm are fine! I'm fine. Now, truth or dare??" Giovanni just wants to move on from this topic. All this talk about his arm is just making him focus more and more about the stinging sensation in it- which would be fun, but that just makes it harder to focus on getting the topic to switch to literally anything else.

"Dude! I'm not picking a truth or dare until you show me your arm, and you _know_ that-" Sylvie reaches out his arm for Giovanni to hand his jacket over, "-Your jacket is getting bloody! Did you even try to bandage your arm properly??" Giovanni seemed a bit startled by that- he loosens his grip on his jacket and holds his jacket a bit further from his chest to check for any bloodstains. By doing this- he just exposed the bloody part of the bandages... "Holy- Okay, seriously, where are the bandages in this place?? That is way too much blood! Are you still losing blood? Please tell me you're not. I don't want to be framed for your murder-"

"I'll be fine! I've dealt with worse, you know! Like the time you _totally broke my bones???_ I'll live! Now pick either truth or-"

"SHUT UP!"

Giovanni, as told to, shuts up. "Look! Answer my question, okay??" Giovanni nods. "Okay! Good. Your arm is still bleeding, right?" Giovanni rechecks his arm, "Uh.. Seems like it?" Sylvie sighs, "Alright. Where are the nearest bandages?" Giovanni scratches his neck a bit... "Oh! Oh, yeah, they're under the bathroom sink. I'll- I'll go get them." Giovanni walks to the door- "Wait! Do not wrap it yet. I don't really trust your Bandaging Abilities, from what I've seen..." Giovanni nods as he heads out of the room.

He walks along the blood trail, gripping his jacket firmly with his left hand. He's careful not to hold it too close to his right arm too much- he'd rather not ruin the jacket too much. He opens up the bathroom door and looks through the cabinet underneath the sink. The bandages aren't that hard to find since he must've just left it there in a rush, not even behind the cleaning supplies. He picks them up and heads back to his room- wow, the blood trail is.. really noticeable. He'll have to clean it up before Mom gets back home- though that might take a while, so it should be fine for now.

He walks into the room with the bandages in hand, "So- uh? Can I just-" Sylvie snatches the bandages from his hand, "Do not do it yourself- I can tell just by looking at your arm that you can't bandage things well. Unwrap the bandage and _I'll_ try bandaging your arm." Giovanni nervously chuckles, "No- no I swear I can do it myself! I was just in a hurry when, uh, I. Uhm." Sylvie's gaze mixed with the dizzy feeling in Giovanni's head are too distracting- "Nope. Unwrap those. Now." Giovanni reaches out his arm to grab the bandage-roll, "Come on- I can do it myself! Really! I'm like. So much older than you.. . like.. at least two years older than you.."

"You're four years older than me-" Sylvie takes ahold of Giovanni's arm, making sure not to squeeze it or to touch the wounded area, "-and this is for your own good, alright? If you're not going to take off the bandage, I will." Giovanni pulls his arm away from Sylvie's grip- though the bandage is already loosening up enough to be taken off easily, and so it does. By now, most of the blood that wasn't soaked up by the bandages has turned into a large, not fully formed, scab, connecting from cut-to-cut. Sylvie's breathe hitches.

Giovanni moves his arm to the back of himself as quick as he can- but not quick enough. It's. Kind of hard to. Stay on one train of thought right now. Giovanni drops his jacket and clutches his forehead. He mumbles something under his breathe, trying to explain, but it's non-comprehensible for the most part. "Hey- hey, calm down- breathe- I can't understand you right now. Listen to me. Breathe in... Out... In... Out... Okay. Okay, now try talking." Luckily Sylvie actually, you know, is an actual licensed psychotherapist, so he's _~~outwardly~~_ really calm.

"I'm-sorry-you're-like-a-baby-you-shouldn't-have-seen-that-" Despite how the text is displayed clearly for you, his words are _very_ slurred, though they are some-what comprehensible this time. "It's fine. Can you hold your arm out? I need to bandage it- most of the scab has formed by now but there's still a bit of liquid blood." Giovanni nods, mumbling again. He holds his left arm up a bit, he's wobbling a bit. He's not _shaking,_ but his movements are ever-so-slightly slower than usual. Sylvie wraps the bandages around Giovanni's arm, "If I were to help _earlier_ then I would have been able to treat this better. But, I guess this can do." Giovanni mumbles "Mhm.." He's still trying to figure out if this is even... morally okay?? Sylvie is way too young to be dealing with _his_ problems, right? Why did he have to come here today of all days?

Sylvie lets go of Giovanni's arm, "Okay, I'm done. Are you alright?" Giovanni nods, though he still feels pretty guilty- and dizzy. "Are you sure? Can you say something?" Giovanni nods again, "Ye-eah. I can. Speak. 'm sorry." His head hurts. It's aching. Not in the fun way, either. It's so much better when it's not the lingering pain but moreso the sharp pain, you know? When it's constantly, and I mean constantly, hurting as if your brain was hit directly. But no, he has to deal with the lingering aching feeling in his head.

"I told you, it's fine. You should probably go to sleep though." Honestly, sleep doesn't sound so bad. The pain is kind of getting annoying right now too... "Alright. I- I think I'll sleep. Probably better that way." Sylvie sighs, "Augh, finally, okay, I think I'll be leaving now, alright? Here's my number if you need me again." Sylvie hands Giovanni a card, "M'kay. See you, Boy." Giovanni mutters, though still audible. Sylvie does a small wave and heads out of Giovanni's room and out of the apartment. When Giovanni hears the door shut, he plops into his face car bed, slowly drifting asleep...

**Author's Note:**

> alternative ending: Sylvie beats Giovanni to death for calling him Boy


End file.
